Wanderlei Silva has paid tribute to fellow fighter Kimbo Slice who sadly passed away earlier this week on social media, while at the same time voicing his own concerns about his long-term health.
Posting on Instagram, the 39 year-old revealed that he currently has 12 of the 15 symptoms of brain damage, including suffering from memory loss, after an almost 50 fight professional MMA career spanning nearly 20 years.
Truth be told, while it’s certainly alarming to hear this news, it’s not surprising, as Silva has recorded one of the most violent career’s in the history of the sport, employing his aggressive, all-action brawling fight style in everything from one-night tournaments to bare knuckle fights and not to mention his legendary all-out sparring sessions back in the Chute Boxe days.
Along the way Silva has fought a succession of stars and been knocked out cold by some of the hardest hitters ever, including Mirko ‘Crop Cop’, Dan Henderson, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Chris Leben, so there was an air of inevitability that all this would take it’s toll on him at some stage.
Despite that, all signs are that Silva is planning to continue his career after recently splitting from the UFC, with ‘The Axe Murderer’ being the first fighter announced for an openweight tournament being hosted by the Rizin’ promotion in Japan, while he’s also put pen to paper on a deal with Bellator.
Read Silva’s full post below.
“Rest in peace. Man, first Randleman and now Kimbo, that’s scary. It’s coming earlier and earlier for my people. We don’t know yet all the consequences caused by our profession, or the consequences on your bodies and minds. It’s like I always tell my friends, forgetting things is actually good, because you forget the bad stuff, too. Jokes aside, I attended a lecture about concussions and I had 12 out of the 15 symptoms presented by the expert there.”
“What can you do? This law that forbids fighters from using IV’s is a crime against fighter’s brains, because you lose water from your brain when you dehydrate, too. That greatly increases the chances of serious brain damage. I have a lot of friends who are different from before. They are getting kind of crazy. Who is going to look after us? Whoever didn’t save some money is going to face some hard times, because we never get any help. We are on our own.”
